August is P6 Month, and Seward Co-op will be celebrating all month! Your favorite small, local, and/or cooperative P6 producers will be in the stores sampling and we’ll be giving away $20 Seward Community Co-op gift cards to shoppers every weekend!

The P6 label calls out products that meet our highest values, which align with the Ends of the co-op, and show our commitment to supporting a strong, independent, local food system. When you buy P6, your dollar goes further! Buying P6 products not only supports your local co-op, but flows resources back to the small-scale, local, and/or cooperative producers–many of which pay their staff a living wage and provide them benefits. From 2010-2016, Seward Co-op’s total P6 sales have nearly tripled from $7,380,200 in 2010 to $19,829,496 last year!

Seward Co-op proudly launched P6 in 2010 as a tool to help shoppers identify products that meet their values. In order for an item to receive the P6 label, the producer must meet two of three criteria: locally produced, cooperatively owned, and/or small-scale.

• Local defines a product grown or produced in the five-state region (MN, WI, IA, ND, SD).
• Cooperative is defined by cooperative ownership of the business or non-profit.
• Small-scale producer is defined using these guidelines: independently owned and operated, selling direct to our stores or through a local distributor with a regional distribution area.

We pay special attention to products from international sources, or whose main ingredient is from an international source, like a chocolate bar or coffee. The international ingredient must be sourced from a small-scale farmer co-op in order to receive the P6 designation. This extra level of attention is because of rampant exploitation in international commodity food chains.
We hope that Seward’s cooperation with the other P6 co-op members inspires you to support your co-op, area producers, and the equitable relationships embodied in a co-op supply chain.

Nordic Naturals believes omega-3s are ideal nutrients for children of every age. Beginning before birth, and throughout our lives, each of us needs these essential fats, but few of us ever come close to consuming enough. For school-aged children in particular, experts recommend omega-3 DHA to maintain optimal growth and development.

Meet with representatives from Nordic Naturals to see why
“Omega 3s Are For Every Body.”
Enjoy 30% off all Nordic Naturals products during the popup events at our respective stores:

Saturday, Aug. 26 at the Franklin Store
Sunday, Aug. 27 at the Friendship Store

Nordic Naturals fruit-flavored omega-3 products are developed with children’s unique needs—and tastes—in mind. All our omega-3 products come from 100% wild-caught fish, and most of our products formulated for kids are derived exclusively from Arctic cod, a great source of DHA. Fresh, pure, and potent, our omega-3s are always made with the safest and most sustainable non-GMO ingredients, and surpass all major standards for quality.

Seward Co-op’s Board of Directors is seeking candidates for the 2017 board election. If you feel strongly about the cooperative business model and want to help shape the future of our co-op, please consider being a candidate. The election will begin in late September, ending at the annual co-op owners meeting on Oct. 23. In order to receive a Board Candidate Application, attendance is required at a board meeting this summer. We welcome all interested co-op owners to attend.

Prior to each of the summer meetings, the board will hold a Candidate Orientation Session beginning at 5:30 p.m. Please arrive early so that the session can begin promptly. The Aug. 29 meeting will be held at the Franklin store. Board meetings officially call to order at 6:15 p.m. Mark your calendars now for Aug. 29 if you think you may be interested in running for the board, and please email board@seward.coop in advance to indicate your intention to attend.

Click here for more information about the board of directors generally. Please email board@seward.coop for further information about the upcoming meetings and this year’s election.

Local produce season will be peaking very soon—when almost everything is available to us, from spring vegetables like herbs and radishes to winter crops such as cured onions and squash. And of course there’s the fruit; we will soon see local peaches, melons, and then apple and pears.

If you look around Seward’s produce departments you will see staff pick signs letting you know which produce staff members are enjoying, and I’d like to take this opportunity to share my favorites! As a produce buyer for over 10 years, I’ve developed relationships with many local farmers and farm groups and I’ve eaten the best they have to offer. Some of my “picks” include:

• Wheatfield Hill’s sweet corn arrives early and stays around late in the season, consistently delivering sweet and plump kernels.

  

• Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA)’s okra and ground cherries—coming soon!—Local okra is the only kind to eat and HAFA’s Indian variety is firm and velvety.

  

• Hearbeet Farm’s beets and greens—These beets are pristine and available from June all the way through April. Char, collards, and kale are all perfect staples to have in your diet!

• Featherstone Farm’s kale and sungold cherry tomatoes—Some of the largest bunches of kale I’ve ever seen are grown at Featherstone. Their sungolds are bright and sugary-sweet every time.

• Wisconsin Growers Co-op provides the first local watermelon of the season, and they can’t come soon enough! As the season progresses we will see between seven and ten different varieties.

  

• Sin Fronteras’ tomatillos—coming soon!—Simply roast and blend into salsa verde for a refreshing summer dip!

• Partner Farms’ peaches are dynamic, lively, fresh, and juicy. Cinderella Plums are my absolute favorite stone fruit and Seward Co-op will be the only place in town that has them. Don’t delay, once these arrive they won’t last long!

All of the local farms Seward buys from are certified organic, growing organically, or using high level integrated pest management practices. You can be assured that you’re getting the freshest, most nutrient dense, and most cared for local produce available.

The wait for harvest season is over, and our partner farms have reported the fields are rife with ripe, flavorful seasonal produce just begging to be eaten. We live for this time of year at the café. Last week we debuted our new summer menu, and we’re excited to share it with you! Now is the time for local produce to shine, so diners can expect our local vegetables, locally sourced proteins, and housemade toppings to fluctuate as the season ebbs and flows. Stop in and check out our specials board or follow us on Twitter (@CoopCreamery) for specific details.

The Creamery Café intentionally sources from farms that may be too small or lacking the resources to support the sales and customer demand of our retail stores. In an effort to support up-and-coming farmers grow their operations and keep money right here in the community we share. The small produce farms we’ll be working with this season are Rebel Soil and York Farm. As the season progresses, there may be special guest appearances on the plate from Sin Fronteras, too! We’ll fill in any gaps with produce and protein from larger partner farms with which we have established relationships. The farms making this strategy possible include Wisconsin Growers Cooperative and Heartbeet Farm. The cooperation among our organization, our farmers, and our diners contributes to the creation of wealth in our community one dish at a time.

Our annual Know Our Grower series continues as our growing season thrives. Know Our Grower is an opportunity to connect shoppers with the talented group of local farmers producing our food and to sample recipes that allow their flavors to shine. We will be sharing information about more partner farms and producers as the season progresses throughout the summer, fall and into the early winter.

Jeremy McAdams launched Cherry Tree House Mushrooms (CTHM) in 2009, a mushroom farm that provides log-grown mushrooms to the Twin Cities. CTHM started in many residential yards in south Minneapolis but has recently moved to a new farm in Clayton, WI.

Cherry Tree House Mushrooms will be at the Friendship Store sampling their shiitake mushrooms Friday, Aug. 4 from 3:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.

Remember Joe and Bonnie of Hill & Vale? For many years, they supplied Seward Co-op with 100-percent pastured-raised, whole carcass beef. In 2015 they retired from farming and we bid them a bittersweet farewell. Paul Smith, his son Jared Smith, and a neighboring farmer Aaron Anderson took the torch and continued on the path paved by Joe and Bonnie under a new name “Blooming Prairie Natural Beef.”

Blooming Prairie has grown with Seward Co-op as we’ve expanded into the Bryant Neighborhood with the Friendship store, which is something Hill & Vale were concerned about being able to achieve. We are happy that we can continue working with a small beef producer instead of needing to rely on a much larger beef operation to meet our increased demand. Thank you Seward Co-op shoppers for supporting this growing, family business in our local community.

This week, we will retire Blooming Prairie’s grass-fed, grain-finished beef and replace it with their 100% grass-fed beef—at the same great price. The animals will continue to be hand-selected when ready, delivered to us every week, fresh from the farmer. The only difference is that the livestock is grass fed from start to finish. If you’re not used to 100-percent grass-fed beef, it is slightly leaner than its grain-finished counterpart, so be sure to cook it lower and slower so it doesn’t dry out.

All of the beef we receive from Blooming Prairie Natural Beef is whole carcass and cut fresh in house. The product available in the case comes from the same steer, ordered directly from the farmer and prepared for you by our highly-skilled butchers. Blooming Prairie brings a lot of passion and care to their work. Their single-origin calves are raised on their mother’s milk until they are old enough to be weaned, then graze on their own in the pasture, where they are well taken care of and live a good life. Farmer Paul Smith says, “If you’re looking for beef with great flavor, texture, and no additives—this is it—Blooming Prairie is the only beef I feed my family.”

On July 6, Clif Bar & Company issued a voluntary recall of their chocolate mint bars due to possible presence of undeclared peanuts and some tree nuts, including almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, walnuts and coconuts. Clif Bar & Company is taking this precautionary safety step for people who are allergic to peanuts and these listed tree nuts. People with an allergy to peanuts and these specific tree nuts run the risk of a serious or life-threatening allergic reaction. The company is strongly advising consumers who have peanut and these specific tree nut allergies not to consume these bars. Individuals who are not allergic to peanuts or these specific tree nuts may safely consume the products.

CLIF BUILDER’S Chocolate Mint $2.49
UPC: 0072225260144
SIZE: 2.4 OZ

If you purchased this product at Seward Co-op from April 2016 onward, it will be fully refunded at either our Franklin or Friendship store Customer Service desk.